The Drop Review

The Drop gives crime dramas a whole new spin by incorporating author Dennis Lehane’s book, Animal Rescue, into the film. His books have been adapted into many films, including Shutter Island and Gone Baby Gone, but this is without a doubt the best one. The film is gripping, tense and entirely captivating from beginning to end. It exposes how organised crime is facilitated by channelling cash to local gangsters through a string of bars in down town Brooklyn. It’s really a smooth operation and the drop can happen at any bar, at any time.

Michaël Roskam (Director) shaped interesting characters that develop so well throughout the film that they are initially not actually who they seem to be. This hard hitting crime drama provided Tom Hardy with the role of the underdog, Bob Sagniowski, a local bartender that finds himself in the epicentre of a robbery gone wrong at a bar he tenders that serves as a drop for a mob of Russian gangsters. Marv (James Gadolfini) is Bob’s boss and cousin; he’s also a small-time crook who owns the local bar where the heist happens. Without letting the cat out of the bag let’s just say the Russians aren’t happy and they want their money back. In the midst of it all Bob befriends Nadia (Noomi Rapace) when he finds a pit bull pup in her dustbin. The pup is badly hurt and Bob decides to adopt little Rocco as his own. Only to find out that Rocco has a backstory of his own and that his original owner, Eric Deeds (Schoenaerts), is a menace and is Nadia’s ex-boyfriend who wants his dog back. The aspect of animal rescue is prominent as the film highlights the fact that pit bulls are not a dangerous breed as perceived by society. Their nature depends on how they are raised which ultimately mirrors the owner.

The twists in plot stands as the best part in the film. All the characters are shadowy and twisted, yet the film comes together with a superhero and a sense of peace at the end. The concept is recycled but has been regenerated into something somewhat genius. The cinematic shots of gritty down town Brooklyn builds the tension to drive the story. Michaël Roskam had to incorporate the aesthetically beautiful church scenes into story. Brooklyn is called the “The Borough of Churches” after all.

The film displays Tom Hardy in full throttle as he gives a ground breaking performance; you literally can’t take your eyes off of him! If you’re looking for a thrill and emotional charge ‘The Drop’ will give you just that.